Interview with Trevor Bannister, at Akron, Ohio, on August 17, 1997

- posted at http://www.drh.net/jrice/www/Canteen/Read/ -

thanks to:

- "Mrs. Bucket" (dowesney@aol.com) -
- "Miss Squeak" (ningerbil@aol.com) -

*

Mrs. Bucket writes:

Trevor Bannister walked straight out to the platform wearing a black shirt,
black pants, and a golden brown jacket. He was extremely tanned and,
although still an attractive man, looked a bit older than the Mr. Lucas
character we see on 'Are You Being Served?'. From the start, he seemed very
confident, used to audiences. He wished to start straight off with
questions from the audience and he answered such questions (which ranged
from the practical to the bizarre) for two hours, standing the entire time.
     Trevor left school at the age of 15 and enrolled in a drama school for
two years. He then had to do his National Service (mandatory military work
at the time). Upon his return to England he was given his first theatre job
by none other than Arthur Brough (Mr. Grainger in AYBS?) in repertoire
theatre. His pre-AYBS? television experiences included guest appearances,
dramas, and a role in 'The Dustbin Men' for Granada Television in 1969. He
first met with David Croft to discuss 'Are You Being Served?' in a pub
after a performance of a play he was in.
     On a personal side of his life, Trevor is now married to his second
wife. He has three grown sons from his first marriage. His youngest son and
his oldest son have followed in their dad's footsteps, both being involved
in the entertainment industry. His oldest son is in theatre production and
the youngest is in television and film production. Trevor's middle son is
an accountant.
     Trevor doesn't remember many details about the 'Are You Being Served?'
story lines as he doesn't really watch himself on television. However, he
does admit that his two favorite AYBS? programs were 'Dear Sexy Knickers'
and 'The Punch and Judy Affair.' The "staff of Grace Brothers" had a lot of
fun times working together but were always on task for the filming. Arthur
Brough, however, often would pull pranks on the rest of the cast during
filming. Despite his pranks, though, Trevor still holds him in very high
regard saying of him that he was a "wicked old man but a wonderful man."
Also, Harold Bennett (who played Young Mr. Grace) was really just as feeble
in 'real life' as he appeared on the show and as a result he sometimes had
difficulty remembering his lines. He credits Jeremy Lloyd and his casting
abilities for casting the role of Young Mr. Grace so believably.
     'Are You Being Served?' was taped live and all the scenes were taped
in order. Filming rarely stopped, even when mistakes were made, and so an
observant audience can often catch flubbed lines here and there. The show
was rehearsed Mondays through Thursdays away from the studio and on Friday
the cast rehearsed in the studio. Around 7pm the audience (consisting of
350 people) was brought in and then filming began at 8 and was usually done
around 9. Since taping of one season of AYBS? only took seven weeks, the
cast was forced to find other work for the rest of the year. That explains
why Trevor eventually left the show. The BBC did not give much warning
before they would decide to do another season of the show and so Trevor had
already signed a contract to do a play. Since he could not break that
contract the BBC tried to move the AYBS? filming days so that Trevor could
be in that too but, sadly, it didn't work out in the end. He had the
opportunity to star in 'Grace and Favour' (Are You Being Served? Again!)
but didn't think it was a good premise for a television show.
     Sadly, most of the cast has passed on. The only surviving cast members
are Trevor, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thorton, Nicholas Smith, John Inman and
Wendy Richard (he didn't say but I am also assuming that Mike Berry is also
living). The survivors still keep in touch though. He explained that Wendy
is in the soap opera, 'EastEnders'; Frank is taking over a role in Roy
Clarke's 'Last of the Summer Wine'; John has done some theatre work; and
Mollie hasn't been too well lately but is now better he thinks.
     Trevor explained that he doesn't get a lot of money for the reruns of
AYBS? because of the amount of people who have to collect on it. However,
he does still widely support PBS. He feels it is a very worthwhile
organization. "You've got a very mean government," he said (tremendous
applause and cheers from the audience). He thinks that the government
should support PBS because of the good quality of programs they show.
     Trevor also talked about a range of other details too. He explained,
in detail, pantomimes, also said that he has written and starred in them;
said he played a role in 'The Odd Couple' (the play) and really enjoyed
working in it; told how to make a Toad in the Hole; talked about his guest
appearance on 'Keeping Up Appearances', and also about Patricia Routledge's
(Hyacinth Bucket's) wonderful acting and singing abilities; joked that the
AYBS? movie was very cheaply made; explained that the connotation of Mrs.
Slocombe's pussy really wasn't as bad in England as in the U.S.; and so on.
Overall, I felt that Trevor Bannister gave a very interesting interview.

*

Miss Squeak replies:

I liked Mr. Bannister's stories on Arthur Brough. I never pictured Brough
as mischevious! It's also kind of neat that Brough was involved in the
rescue of people at Dunkirk (sp?)

*

Mrs. Bucket replies:

Trevor [said] that Arthur sailed back and forth several times rescuing
people.

*

Miss Squeak replies:

I loved the stories about the "pink gin"... How Mr. Brough would head down
to the pub for a "pink gin" between shots, and how he NEVER missed his
entrance, even when the others (esp. Trevor and John Inman) tried to trip
him up by speeding up the rehearsals, or slowing them down. Aurthur Brough
never missed a beat.
     I was also fortunate enough to talk to Pamela, Mr. Bannister's wife.
Very lovely person, and very charming. She said that she met Trevor while
she was organizing and he (I believe) was directing a youth theatre
production. She works for CSC, a computer company based in the States as a
PR rep. This was her second trip to the States. They are hoping to return
to the midwest area sometime next year for a vacation.

END